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 These
rugged beauties dominate the Bow Valley and the thriving
towns of Banff and Canmore in the booming Province of Alberta.
Alberta is the oil producing province of Canada, and Calgary,
located just 106 kilometers (or 66 miles) east of Canmore,
and is the major international airport one would use to
access the Rocky Mountains. Calgary is a rapidly growing
city with a population in excess of 750,000 people, and
has great financial stability thanks to oil and gas.
The Canadian Rockies were formed about 65 million years ago, although the main features of these mountains were set 10,000 years ago as the glaciers receded. The remains of our glacial history are still seen in the forms of hanging valleys, cirques, cols, tarns, horns, arêtes, eskers and a wide variety of moraines. The Rockies owe their prominence to hard limestone, dolomite and quartzite.
 Coal
seams in the footwall of Mount Rundle were thrust upwards
to the surface and coal mining was the major employer in
Canmore until 1979. Calcium bedrock is quarried in Exshaw,
a few miles to the east of Canmore, and is processed into
cement and limestone products. This same formation has produced
an extensive network of underground caverns. Canmore is
located in a wide valley, which is two kilometers (1.25
miles) wide and sits upon zones of sandy clay loam, wetland
glacial outwash and alluvial deposits.
 Calgary
International Airport handles traffic from all corners of
the globe and is represented by all the major airline companies.
Limousine and taxi services as well as all the major car
rental agencies are available at the airport. Buses are
also accessible from the airport or downtown Calgary, and
the approximate cost to Canmore would be less than $20.00
(CAN) or $15.00 (US). This leisurely trip takes about one
hour and journeys from Prairies through Foothills and into
the majestic Rockies themselves via the twinned Trans Canada
Highway.
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